Population: India may defeat China by 2050

On the World Population Day, the National Population Stabilisation Fund has predicted that at the present annual growth rate of 1.6%, India will surpass China to become the largest populated country by 2050.

The NPSF (Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or JSK), is a registered autonomous society of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and concentrates on population studies and other activities.

As per the JSK, the population clock for the country has reached 127, 42, 39,769 number of people on today. China is the largest populated country at present with a population of 1.37 billion.

The present growth rate of India is higher than that of China and the country will have 1.63 billion people by 2050.

According to data from JSK, the chief indicator that shows the pace of population growth, the total fertility rate (TFR) in India is declining and is 2.3 in 2013. But the decline is not consistent.

Early marriages in many states are causing the upward population pressure.

The JSK said that high percentage of female (21-26 per cent) is married below 18 years of age in states like Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar.